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THE UNIVERSITY DARY KANSAN
WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 19
SPORTS
NCAA BASKETBALL
5B
Syracuse continues revival
Victory against Hoyas could push Orange into tournament
BY JOHN KEKIS ASSOCIATED PRESS
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Two weeks ago, Syracuse seemed destined for that other tournament. Not anymore.
After losing four times in five tries to ranked teams and struggling through a three-game midseason slide, the Orange (21-8, 10-5 Big East) punctuated their resurgence Monday night by beating No. 9 Georgetown 72-58 for their fifth straight victory.
It was only the second triumph in six games against ranked teams for Syracuse. But this one halted an 11-game winning streak by the conference's top team, and that will look very good on the resume.
Georgetown (22-6, 12-3) had won 11 straight conference games for the first time in school history and defeated Pittsburgh 61-53 Saturday to aaveg a road loss to the Panthers in January. The victory against Pitt gave the Hoyas sole possession of first place in the Big East.
"Georgetown has been playing the best of anybody in our conference, maybe as well as anybody in the country". Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said after his 747th career victory, 13th all time in Division I and one more than Phog Allen. "The seniors deserve a lot of the credit. Five or six games ago, people were booing right here in Syracuse, and that's tough to take."
In the other Top 25 game Monday night, it was No. 3 Kansas 67, Oklahoma 65.
There were no boos on this night for the home team from the raucous Carrier Dome crowd of 26,287.
In the final game of his career, senior forward Demetris Nichols, the Big East's leading scorer, had a game-high 22 points and helped key the 14-0 second half spurt that decided the game. Senior Darryl Watkins helped make Georgetown center Roy
Hibbert an afterthought. And senor Terrence Roberts, playing with a torn meniscus in his left knee, gutted out 29 minutes, finishing with six points, six rebounds, two steals and one block while giving his teammates a huge dose of heart.
"Two weeks ago, we didn't deserve to be in (the NCAA tournament)." Boeheim said. "I'm proud of my kids. We knew five games ago we had to win and play well. This game was the culmination. This was our best game."
Against Syracuse's 2-3 zone, the
Hoyas fizzled.
They committed 19 turnovers that Syracuse converted into 25 points and scored just six points off the Orange's 13 turnovers.
Jeff Green,
Georgetown's leading scorer,
finished with nine points on
Nichols then drained a three from the right corner after his own steal and Rautins hit again from left wing to give Syracuse a 56-46 lead with 7.31 left.
"We knew five games ago we had to win and play well. This game was the culmination. This was our best game."
3-for-13 shooting, the first time he failed to crack double figures in 10 games. And the 7-foot-3 Hibbert, who has had little success against Syracuse, continued that trend with just six points and two rebounds in 20 minutes. Starters Jessie Sapp, Jon Wallace and Dajuan Summers scored a combined 25 points on 4-for-29 shooting, with 15 coming from the free throw line.
"We just weren't converting on offense," said Green, who had 10 rebounds. "We let them go on their runs and we didn't go on ours."
Nichols added a dagger when he hit a three-pointer as the shot-clock buzzer sounded for a 59-46 lead and Watkins hit a hook over Hibbert to complete the run.
The key spurt began after Patrick Ewing Jr's three-point play and two free throws by Sapp put Georgetown up 44-43 with 11:58 left.
Georgetown, first in the Big East and fifth nationally in scoring defense at 56.1 points per game, got a taste of its own medicine. The Hoyas shot 29.8 percent for the game, just
JIM BOEHEIM Syracuse coach
Sophomore Andy Rautins, coming off a career-high 19 points against Providence on Saturday, started it with a three-pointer from right wing.
20 percent in the second half
"You can't let that happen on the road." Georgetown coach John Thompson III said. "You can't miss some of the shots we missed and you can't give them the looks that they
got if you want to win. We picked the wrong night to have maybe our worst day of the year. They just beat us"
Eric Devendorf had 11 points and a career high 11 assists, Rautins had 13 points, and Paul Harris 11.
"We knew we were capable of beating them," said Nichols, who finished 6-for-16 shooting. "We came out with a lot of drive and hunger."
Syracuse, which moved into a fourth-place tie with Notre Dame in the conference, closes its regular season at Villanova on Saturday aiming to beat the Wildcats for the second straight time. A loss, though, won't be so devastating now.
"We knew we needed a couple more wins to solidify (our chances to make the NCAA tournament)." Devendorf said. "I can't really say we're in or not, but this really helped."
NCAA BASKETBALL
Tar Heels wilting late in games Nation's other top teams also struggling in recent weeks
BY DAVID GINSBURG ASSOCIATED PRESS
COLLEGE PARK, Md. — Teams with aspirations of winning a national championship can't afford to wilt in the final minutes of a close game.
Unless No. 5 North Carolina can correct that unsightly habit, the Tar Heels probably won't get far in the NCAA tournament.
North Carolina (24-5, 10-4 Atlantic Coast Conference) blew a 13-point lead, then built the margin back to 12 with just more than 7 minutes left before fading.
D. J. Strawberry scored a career-high 27 points, Mike Iones had 18, and Maryland rallied from a 12-point deficit in the second half Sunday to defeat the Tar Heels 89-87 and extend its winning streak to five games.
tough."
"This is very frustrating," North Carolina center Tyler Hansbrough said. "We can't crumble whenever the game gets tight. We have to be
In Sunday's other Top 25 games, it was No. 2 Ohio State 49, No. 1 Wisconsin, 48; No. 7 Memphis 77, Houston 64; No. 1 Vanderbilt 67, Kentucky 65; No. 1 Duke 67, St. Johns 50 and No. 2 Lousville 76, Connecticut 69.
The Tar Heels' five losses this season are by a combined 21 points. In this one, North Carolina led for the first 37 minutes before Maryland took over.
"We lacked focus. We didn't convert the way we should down the stretch." forward Reysbawn Terry said. "We had another breakdown. We keep hitting the same wall. It's making me a little nervous, honestly."
North Carolina had a chance to force overtime with 3.5 seconds left, but Brandon Wright missed the first of two free throws and the Tar Heels failed to control the rebound of his second misfire.
As the final buzzer sounded, fans rushed the court to celebrate
the Terrapins' first victory against North Carolina in six tries since Jan. 14, 2004.
"We have a pretty good belief in ourselves this year" Maryland coach Gary Williams said. "The seniors knew the game wasn't over and they knew we had time to come back. The big thing was to stop them from scoring."
James Gist had 12 points for Maryland (22-7, 8-6). Before their five-game run, the Terrapins were 3-6 in the ACC and in danger of missing the NCAA tournament for a third straight season.
Now, after being all but written off three weeks ago, Maryland can count on a return trip.
"You get criticized around here when you lose," Williams said. "That's part of the deal. I guess, when you've won a national championship (in 2002)."
"They've got themselves right back in it," North Carolina coach Roy Williams said.
NFL
League tries to clean up its image
BY DAVE GOLDBERG
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Three times a week, Tony Dungy stands in front of his Indianapolis Colts and reads the newspapers. Specifically, the police blotter: stories about athletes in trouble with the law.
Thus the proposal by commissioner Roger Goodell and Gene Upshaw, executive director of the NFL Players Association, to enact a "three strikes and you're out" rule that would ban players for life after a third conviction.
Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, even when it's someone as respected as Dungy doing the talking. Example: After the Colts won the Super Bowl, one of the game's stars, running back Dominic Rhodes, was charged with drunken driving, the third Colt arrested in the last two years.
"We have to face it, there's a problem" Upshaw told the AP Wednesday. "The percentage of players involved in this is very, very low. But there's a perception out there and the problems are real."
What makes this unique is that the push is partly coming from players, starting with 10 who attended a meeting in Indianapolis last week with Goodell, Upshaw and
Denver Broncos owner Pat Bowlen.
It was called to discuss escalating misbehavior involving NFL players, including the shooting that left Broncos cornerback Darrent Williams dead after the team's final game on New Year's Eve.
"If you want players to listen, it has to come from the bottom, not the top. Not from Roger and me," Upshaw said. "If other players tell them that's the way it should be, it has a much greater effect."
Last fall, Goodell called Cincinnati Bengals president Mike Brown and offered help for a team-wide problem — eight Bengals (now nine) arrested in a year.
Stop by our table at Wescoe or the Kansas Union this week to celebrate march madness!
Each day there will be different contests and prizes to win!